Chapter 14: Azaleas
After taking a step back, under the watchful gaze of the man lying prostrate at her feet displaying his katana for her, Kasumi feels her stomach turn. As if she had sunk into a lake, the air quickly escapes from her lungs. Step by step she walks away, her face becoming more and more disgruntled by the second. Satoru watches her with growing concern; he whispers her name, but the words do not reach Kasumi's confused ears.
With her head beginning to spin. Kasumi leaves the room before Satoru can stop her. He reaches out his hand towards her clothes, hoping to avoid the certain commotion she is about to cause, but his hands miss their target, Kasumi vanishes into thin air.
Running past him, looking for some air and a place away from him, she runs down long corridors until she pushes aside a door. On the other side she's greeted by the winter cold at its peak, but contrary to what she expected, it feels as pleasant and necessary as a sea breeze in the middle of summer.
With bare feet she walks on the snow leaving her footprints marked among the freshly fallen snow. She doesn't even seem to realize how strange it is that she catches her breath instead of shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. She can't, as her mind is too busy repeating Satoru's words over and over again. They run through her mind like a curse, but despite having heard them inside her mind a dozen times they still sound like nonsense.
"It's cold," Satoru's patient, warm voice says.
Kasumi doesn't want to turn around, her sad gaze watching the frozen lake, fish trapped under a thin layer of ice. The moon is barely hidden behind the clouds, its dim light stingily illuminating the surroundings, leaving enough space for the shadows in which Mei-Mei's crows hide.
After a strange, awkward silence, Kasumi watches him over her shoulder.
Satoru's face is serious, not smiling as he has done almost tirelessly the last few days. He watches her for a moment before holding out his hand.
Her winter cloak.
Kasumi's lips twist, though she resists the urge she has to cry bitterly. Satoru's recent confession has left her so devastated that she couldn't even describe with certainty how she feels. All she knows is that her stubborn heart flutters at him.
Kasumi's small, delicate, snowy hand reaches out in his direction and without hesitation he closes the distance, takes hold of her hand and pulls her to him sheltering her from the cold with his own arms.
"Do you want to take it out on me for hiding it from you? Do it, but don't scream, someone might hear you and I wouldn't want to put you in danger again. The crows are watching us... I'll take you away, to a place where you can tell me whatever you want, so you can insult me as much as you wish."
Kasumi buries her face in Satoru's chest as he embraces her in a protective way. Her hair disheveled, her makeup ruined by tears, her lipstick smeared, her kimono disassembled. As much as he wishes he could give her time, it's cold and she's one slip away from ending up naked. Her bare feet are damp and her body shivers with cold, though she doesn't seem to mind. Carefully he wraps one of his arms around her and carries her back to the palace and slowly drags her into her room. She has not responded to his offer, has said nothing but sobbing with every step, only to continue sobbing lying on a bed.
She seems to have no desire to look him in the face, rolls over on the bed and turns her back to him as fast as her spine touches the mattress. Satoru doesn't move, he can't, he can't find the will to do so after hearing her pitiful cry.
"I was going to tell you when..."
"Leave me alone."
Satoru still does not have the strength to stand up. He remains seated next to her for a few more seconds and, when he's about to answer her, she stands up. Her sad eyes, wrapped in anger, meet his surprised ones.
"I want to be alone!"
Satoru nods, though slightly puzzled. She returns to her previous position, her back to him, and he sighs once more. Satoru covers her as if she were a sick child. He is at a loss for words. He does not refute his lady's first order. Then he stands up to go back to his room and tries to rehearse an explanation that he should probably give her in the morning.
This is one of the most complicated nights. Satoru finds out shortly after his head hits the pillow. He can't sleep thanks to the growing concern he feels for Kasumi, at the same time as his mind constantly betrays him, reminding him that, had his decisions been different, he would be spending the night in a much more rewarding way, though he would eventually end up just as mortified.
What's worse is what happens the next day, when Kasumi finally learns what his meeting with Mei-Mei was all about.
For the first time in a long time, his stomach hurts. But it's a particular pain, it's the one born of uncertainty. He hasn't felt it since he was twelve years old, when he was just a kid making a living on the streets. He didn't feel it even when he knew that the attack on the imperial palace was imminent, nor when he massacred the Zenin soldiers in the red district of Shinmachi.
His stomach aches just thinking about what Kasumi will have to say to him the next day. Will she refuse his protection?
In the morning, as the sun rises and crows swarm over the windows, Kasumi moves swiftly between the corridors. Satoru barely catches a glimpse of the reflection of her hair before she disappears behind a hallway. Such haste only makes him think she wants to lose sight of him.
Kasumi probably got up so early to eat that he's sure, like him, she didn't sleep a minute all night. By the time he got to the dining room, her plate was empty and Mei-Mei was just getting ready to drink her first cup of tea.
The disappointment in his gesture is so evident to Mei-Mei that she can't help but smile as he sits down and sighs, barely looking up to see her and bid her hostess good morning.
"How was your night? Did you find your room comfortable?"
The words 'poisonous snake' are about to come out of his mouth, but Satoru swallows them and smiles.
"It was your doing, wasn't it? -Satoru says with some disdain, as if there was no point in knowing the answer. How did you convince Kasumi to do something like that? It's not her style at all..."
"Didn't it please you?"
"Not at all."
"Strange, I thought you'd like it. Have the years changed you that much? In another time you would have jumped at the chance without a second thought. What happened? Have you changed your preferences? It's a pity, Kasumi-chan seems to be fond of you."
"That doesn't answer what I asked you. I know you didn't incite Kasumi to do what she did out of the mere goodness of your heart, or your romantic desire to see two people together. I know you well enough to know that there is only one thing in the world that moves you, maybe two...if you have an ounce of a heart. What do you gain from all this strange display? Are you so bored that you decided to manipulate her in this way? Be careful, Mei-Mei... Kasumi is not a pretty doll that you can dress, make up and do her hair as you please."
Mei-Mei laughs softly after hearing Satoru's words and threatening tone.
"That I know, save your threats for your real enemies."
"So?"
"Now I am even more convinced of what she is not. She's not an ordinary woman that you can screw and go on with your life as if nothing happened. She's different, she's special, so special that you didn't dare touch her with your filthy hands. You're keeping her pristine, pure, for someone else, aren't you?"
"What a lurid way you have of forming your theories."
"Is she noble? For I don't know how else you would care to preserve her virgin at the cost of your own desires. I don't think it was an easy task to refuse her, she was dying to explore her intimacy with you. She was so eager to learn that I was about to teach her myself."
"You have already confirmed through your questionable means that Kasumi is, in fact, someone important to me. By the same token, I don't understand why you think I would hesitate to test the edge of my sword on that long, slender neck of yours if you dared to sully her honor. After all... my hands are not the only filthy ones in this room."
"Don't waste your breath, Satoru. Kasumi-chan still possesses some autonomy, or have you already promised her to someone without her consent?"
"Kasumi has the freedom to choose her own destiny."
"Then she will be the one to decide which dirty hands will sully her honor, Satoru. That will be completely out of your hands."
"Do you plan to continue putting ideas into her head?"
"A mind as hungry as hers should not go to waste... All I did was open her eyes to the truth about the world and her own desires. What's the matter? Are you afraid to leave her with me and when you return you'll find a woman far more determined than the one you left behind?"
"I trust that when I leave you will keep your word and keep her safe, and that you are smart enough to spare yourself from a—."
"You're leaving?"
Satoru turns, Kasumi is standing in the doorway watching him with wide eyes. A reply tries to escape his lips, but dies on his tongue.
"How should I interpret your silence, Gojo-san?" she says again.
Before answering, Satoru glances sideways at Mei-Mei. His expression alone becomes an affirmation to her, and the reality weighs on her back like a ton of stones. Unable to bear it, Kasumi turns around and quickly walks out through the door.
The samurai stands up and looks quizzically at the place where he thought she had eaten breakfast. Then he hears Mei-Mei's laughter.
"UiUi likes to eat very early in the morning," she tells him and picks up her chopsticks to start eating, heedless of the little scene she has witnessed.
Finally, the moment has come. Satoru walks dejectedly, with a pessimistic air over his head. He searches through the corridors until finally a girl tells him that she has seen Kasumi enter the library.
Entering the room, he can't find her. Neatly arranged books adorn the walls, square partitions in dozens and a small wooden staircase behind which she's hiding.
Satoru walks slowly, as if she were a wounded rabbit that must be approached delicately so that it doesn't escape. Kasumi hides her face between her legs.
"When were you going to tell me you were going to leave me here?"
He decides to sit next to her and after a moment of silence answers.
"Today."
"And when do you plan to leave?"
"As soon as possible."
Kasumi turns around, her expression disarmed at Satoru's sudden response. He has no expression at all, he lost them all, the night before after their last kiss.
"Why didn't you ask me if I wanted to stay here? Why are you making these decisions without talking to me first? Don't I have the right to know what's going to happen to my own life?"
"I didn't tell you because I knew we would have an argument."
"It doesn't make any sense to postpone it!"
"I did what I thought would be best for you... I knew this would..."
"Why did you decide to go without me?"
"Because the place where I'm going is too dangerous."
"We've encountered danger every place we've gone! Why should this be any different?"
"Because on all previous occasions, the danger was chasing us. Where I'm going now... rest assured, they'll be waiting for me."
"Where are you going?"
"You don't need to know."
"I'm coming with you!"
"No, you won't."
"You can't stop me!"
"You're going to get in my way!"
Satoru feels his heart quiver, Kasumi's eyes reflecting her every emotion so accurately that he knows almost certainly how much his answer has hurt her.
"You're weak and slow," he says despite his master's gesture, "you couldn't help me out there, you'd slow me down, I can't do what I have to do and take care of you at the same time. My duty is to protect you, but there is something I must do... Something I left unfinished when I left the Imperial city. Mei-Mei will take care of you, you'll be safe here and that's all you need to know... but under no circumstances tell her who you really are, no matter how much she inquires... no matter what she offers you, don't tell her. I will come back, I promise."
"When?"
"I'll be back... before the azaleas bloom," he says and gives a slight smile.
Kasumi's small fists turn pale, she clenches them so tightly that they begin to tremble. Then she looks at his lopsided smile, meets his eyes and remembers his words to her the night before.
"Then I order you to tell me the truth."
Stunned, Satoru does not believe what he hears.
"You order me?"
"That's what you said last night, right? You said that my words would be an order to you. Now speak, now I... I-I am your master, or were you lying to me?"
Satoru laughs.
"Don't make fun of me!"
He clears his throat.
"I think I should have chosen my words better..."
"If I really am who you think I am and you have made a promise to serve me, tell me the truth. Say it right now or I'll take my things and get out of here alone. Tell me or I will go get my brothers and you will never hear from me again."
"Did Mei-Mei teach you to make threats?"
"Mei-san has nothing to do with this! Just one more word that doesn't explain the reason for your trip will be enough for me. I don't want to hear any jokes, not a single irony from you, tell me the truth for fuck's sake!"
"Well... wow... I didn't know you had that temper in store..."
"I'm not playing!"
Satoru sighs.
"Recently... I heard that there is a person, a good friend... who is being tortured by the Zenin clan to get information about my whereabouts. Mei-Mei is helping me right now to find out where he is. I have to help him escape... He has no idea where I am, but he is smart enough not to tell. I don't think they would kill him if they think he has information. That's why I have to help him escape. Once that problem is solved, I'll come back."
"And then what? What about me? What do you have planned for me?"
"I know very well that I must give you certain explanations... And that you deserve them... However, I don't want to do it within these four walls. I'm afraid there are more ears here than you think... My offer to take you away so that you can curse me still stands."
"That's fine. I'll allow it... but... one more lie and you can be sure I wouldn't mind dying on the way, I'll walk out of here. I swear it."
Riding on Oguri's back, after the gray clouds dissipate over the sky, Kasumi sets off with Gojo to the outskirts of the palace. Through the periphery of his gaze, Satoru can see the iridescent flashes of the plumage of the crows that tirelessly follow him. He follows the path that traces the nearest trail and then turns off toward the open sea. Kasumi ducks her head, dodging the branches. She is about to ask why he has chosen such a makeshift path when they emerge from the forest and a cawing sound catches her attention; a pair of crows perch on the branches of a snow-clogged pine tree. As they approach the sea and leave the crows behind, Satoru slows his pace.
Already far from the reach of those animals, they both get off Oguri's back.
"We are far away... but be careful with the tone of your voice anyway," says Satoru, looking sideways at Mei-Mei's walled castle, which stands out among the density of the forest. "Well, let's resume... I have nothing 'planned' for you... But, given the circumstances, you have several options. I'll support the one you choose."
"Wait... Why are you so sure that I am... who you think I am?" She says, lowering the tone of her voice, "Satoru, I am not special in the least. My existence has been nothing more than an accident, my mother was a chonin and my father..."
"A fisherman... So they told you, but it was the emperor himself who sent me to find you. And it's indisputable that the description he gave me doesn't fit anyone else but you, Kasumi..." He says while he takes between his hands a lock of her hair. "That's why I didn't recognize you the first time we met, when your hair had another color... There's no one else but you. I know you want another answer, you prefer something more ambiguous, don't you? Something you could easily refute. I'm sorry, this is the only answer I have for you.
"Did he say I was his daughter?"
"No, but I can sense it. Maybe he didn't want you to get involved in everything that's going on and just sent me to get you to safety, that I can't know for sure. His mind wasn't quite right when he gave me that task and I must admit that, at first, I also harbored doubts. But... recently... I was able to confirm that someone else knows about your identity."
"Who is it?"
"The person I'm going to look for."
"But no one's going to believe it, what's the point? What do you expect me to do with this information? I'm of no use to anyone. What am I supposed to do now? Knowing something like this doesn't change anything about me, I don't know how to do anything particularly well, I don't have any education other than what Kusakabe gave me. Why are you behaving as if this changes anything at all? I'm still the same irrelevant person you met months ago, why don't we just forget the whole thing, we'll put it behind us! Let's just pretend that last night... never happened..." she utters, avoiding Satoru's watchful gaze.
"But it did happen. And I can't behave as if I don't know who you are, even before I knew of your existence I had sworn to serve the royal family. If Taishō's legitimate son had not perished... I would be by his side. If you want to keep it a secret then I'll take it to my grave... Though first I'll have to apologize to you since... I may have mentioned it before."
"To whom?"
"Shoko and Utahime."
Kasumi lets out a sigh, then raises her tired gaze to his; his expression is exactly the same as always, his eyebrows are just a little lower than usual. He looks at her expectantly.
"You mentioned something about my options... I assume one of them is to keep this a secret, what are the others?"
Satoru presses his lips together, looks back at the crows watching him in the distance and continues.
"Since the blood of the former emperor runs through your veins, so does his cursed technique, therefore... your future heirs and their heirs will be able to manifest it, perhaps."
"Perhaps..." Kasumi repeats in an ironic tone.
"Yes, perhaps. This is not as accurate as you might imagine. As in my case, the leader of a clan inherited his family's technique to an illegitimate son. They don't care who the mother is, or whether or not a ceremony was performed to consummate the marriage, or the act, as long as they secure a powerful technique. In fact, the very manifestation of the technique is the only thing that could legitimize the heir. In your case... Taishō's could restore the previous order, suppress the growing cursed energy in the country, both in curses and shamans. If the clans know of your existence you will have many offers of marriage... The manipulation of that technique has more value than you could imagine. If it were to fall into the wrong hands... Well, that's an option."
"Option? You call that an option? How is that different from what Noritoshi Kamo did to that woman, Tanso's mother? What you mean is that I could sell my own body for the use and benefit of some clan member... until one of my heirs perhaps inherits a cursed technique. And what if the technique doesn't run through my veins? Would they banish me after having used me like a farm animal, after seeing me give birth who knows how many times?"
"Kasumi, believe me when I tell you that I would never allow you to be used like that. Even if I had to get my hands dirty again."
'Again' echoes over Kasumi's ears.
"'All I'm saying is that you are invaluable and you could analyze every single proposal that comes in, carefully. I would help you choose the most suitable candidate and you would be assured of a relatively quiet life. You would never have to worry about hunger or cold again, nor would your siblings."
"That's not what I consider a quiet life. What's my other option?"
"You've already mentioned that one. Running away."
"Run away?"
"Yes. Ignore everything, join your brothers and forget what you've just learned. Live somewhere far away, an island probably, a hidden and forgotten place. When I get Taishō's treasure I'll give you your share and you'll be able to choose the life you want. You'll be able to do as you wish... as was the emperor's will before he died. Personally, I would prefer that you choose the second option.
"Why mention the first? Let's do that! Run away with me! We'll get the boys and Kusakabe. You said you'd take care of me, so you have to come with me. I want to forget all this and live in peace, away from the clans and the shogun. And I want you to be by my side..."
"Are you sure? Remember that I can't reciprocate your feelings."
Gojo speaks with a lightness and rootlessness that inevitably makes Kasumi shudder.
"Why not? I've decided to forget everything! What good are such promises to those who are no longer here? I'm here! I've confessed my feelings to you in every way possible."
"Your feelings..." says Satoru as he rests his palms on Kasumi's shoulders, "are nothing but confusion. I understand that your life has been very hard and that perhaps my affection has... clouded your mind. You will see that in my absence it will diminish and when you see me again you will see nothing more than an old friend."
"Friend? My heart could never beat so strongly for a mere friend."
"Your heart? Kasumi... a heart can beat for many reasons and that doesn't mean it's important. Wasn't your heart beating fast when we met and you tried to take your own life? Wasn't it beating fast when Naobito Zenin hunted us down and you fell down a waterfall? It sure was pounding when you saw your dear Aunt Nami again and it will pound when you embrace your siblings again. Kasumi, your body and your heart won't always be wise in telling you which path to take in your life."
"So it doesn't mean anything? What I feel doesn't matter?"
"What you feel should not hinder your decisions. I have a mission... And just like you, I won't always be able to have everything I want. Those are your choices; if you decide to marry and make your lineage public, I will be the one to endorse it. You need not fear, not all clan members are complete pricks... That's what I'll take care of. If you decide to turn a blind eye and live the life you had planned all along, I'll be there for you. But you have time to think about it, you don't have to have an answer now... I'll go away and you'll be calm for a while, take advantage of it to meditate on all this. Maybe the easiest answer is not the safest one, remember that Mei-Mei suspects you. If you decide to leave, I will be by your side, not as you would like, but I will continue to protect you."
"What about the Zenin Clan? Are you going to let them continue this tyrannical reign? What about your friends? What will happen when they learn about Tengen-sama?"
"The first of my duties is to you. If you decide to send me away, I will do so after I have made sure that you will be well. If you decide to release me from the servitude I swore to your family... you may do so."
"Would you follow that order if I gave it to you?"
"The answer to that question will only be given to you if one day you decide to give me that order."
Kasumi lowers her gaze. She knows that her time with him is shortening second by second and that returning to the palace will only be the preface to his departure. However, they are both speechless, there is nothing more between them than the sea breeze.
Satoru glances off into the distance, taking advantage of Kasumi's momentary silence. He feels the direction of the wind and carefully observes the movement and appearance of the clouds. He looks from side to side and sighs, anticipating his plans ahead of the news he expects to receive from Mei-Mei.
"It's cold and you haven't eaten anything. Let's go back," he says and she nods.
Oguri's slow pace gives Kasumi time to think things over a bit more. A question comes softly from her lips.
"What was he... like?"
"Him?"
"Yes... I mean, is there anything about me that reminds you of him?"
"Not really, you're quite different. While he was a quiet person, he was very determined. His hand never trembled when making a difficult decision, I never saw him hesitate. He was compassionate and kind in a very fair measure... Perhaps so that no one would consider his kindness as a sign of weakness. But, to his enemies he was...someone to be feared. But don't get carried away by my words... A man is not born that way, he is made."
…
After eating in solitude, in a room overlooking the inner gardens, Kasumi sighs and hopes that an answer to her situation will come to her quickly. She fears that Satoru will receive Mei-san's message at any moment. On the way back he told her that she was looking for the location of the nearest Zenin Clan camps.
It is impossible for her to quench her desire to accompany him, but she has no words to refute his reasons. Being a burden is not at all pleasant, but Kasumi is quite used to feeling this way. That's why she didn't and won't say anything at all. She simply waits for the news to come, for the location Satoru desires to finally appear so that he will leave her side.
How many crows will she be able to manipulate simultaneously? How far will her field of vision reach? Will her power also have grown since Taishō's death?
"You are my sister's guest, right?" Kasumi looks up and finds a boy about ten years old, as tall as her younger brother. He is wearing a navy blue kimono with birds embroidered on the sleeves, with a bright light blue thread. "She's wonderful, have you bathed with her already?"
Kasumi blushes as quickly as the boy utters his question, but he doesn't give her time to answer it and starts laughing softly, just as Mei-Mei usually laughs.
"I also like to bathe with her."
A few words get stuck in Kasumi's throat. Not knowing exactly what to say, she stands up and bows to him.
"You are the lord of this land, aren't you? Excuse my manners, my name is Kasumi... I hope I won't cause you too much trouble with my presence."
"My sister told me that you would stay with us for a while... What do you like most about her?"
"Huh? -Her? Well... She... is very... intuitive," Kasumi answers the first acceptable one that comes to her mind.
"Right? I really like her smile and the smell of her skin."
Kasumi smiles awkwardly and nods.
"If you're going to stay here, I don't want you to take away my time with my sister. I like being alone with her and having her stroke my hair. But, if you want, you can spend time with me. Winters are usually very boring and my sister has been very busy with Gojo-san's request. Besides, using her cursed technique for so long has her exhausted. I want her to be able to rest properly."
"Sure... I... would... be glad to spend time with you."
"You can call me by my name, I'm Ui-Ui."
As the days go by, Kasumi dreads Mei-Mei's words more and more. When she approaches with her coaxing cadence, Kasumi trembles inside waiting for her to tell her that she has finally found that thing that Gojo is looking for so much. It is not until the fifth day that, in the morning, she speaks the words that will finally separate her from Satoru.
"I found the settlement late at night. On Toshima Island, to the south. Thirty soldiers, at least two shamans."
Her words cut through the morning silence like a dagger, but Satoru's countenance does not change a millimeter. He nods, finishes his meal and then excuses himself to withdraw more hastily than usual. Kasumi can only force the food down her throat, completely oblivious to the morning conversation between Ui-Ui and Mei-Mei. She makes a superhuman effort to finish her plate and before she finishes uttering her apology, she finds herself pacing the corridors of the palace in search of him.
Her heart stops when she finds him, shouldering the sack in which he carries his few belongings, leaving the palace.
The sudden trembling of her hands is not an impediment to grab him by the clothes and pull him, as if she were somehow begging him to stay. Satoru stops his steps and turns to look at her over his shoulder. Big, round, bright eyes, filled with tears, greet him. A crooked, forced, tight smile. Red cheeks and in her chest an ache that has her shivering.
"You're leaving," she says.
"That's right."
"In the middle of winter? Why don't you at least wait for spring to start?"
"No one will be expecting me to move in winter, it might take them by surprise."
Kasumi looks him in the eyes trying to find the right words to convince him, but there are none.
He lowers his shoulders and lays the sack on the floor. He strokes the crown of her hair as usual and without realizing it his hand slips to her cheek. With his thumb he strokes Kasumi's soft, warm skin. Then, before he can think about what he's doing, he bends down to her and kisses her forehead gently.
"Will you come back before the azaleas bloom?"
"Yes, I promise, and I always keep my promises."
A smile that is born in her heart curls her lips. Kasumi closes her eyes and feels Satoru's fingers slowly roam over her cheek. But her heart squeezes as the contact between them breaks and she looks up to see the samurai's confident smile.
He extends his palm, riding over Oguri. He waves in the distance and she does the same from the palace gates. She shouts to him, when he is far enough away, that she will be waiting for him. Kasumi smiles and stands there alone for over an hour, even though Satoru is but a speck in the distance, lost among the trees and mountains.
Clinging to his promise, Kasumi doesn't allow her heart to waste away in sadness at his absence.
As the sun dips below the horizon and Oguri's footsteps are blotted out by the snow that begins to fall, Kasumi decides she will have to return to the palace. When the wooden doors close behind her and two guards stand watching the entrance, Kasumi feels that at any moment she will awaken from a bad dream and he will be there beside her. She would like to pinch herself and realize that this is nothing more than a fantasy.
As if her childish desire to walk in a palace and wear silk kimonos has turned against her, Kasumi begins to disdain everything around her. Wrapped in apathy, she ignores her body's plea for food and water and simply locks herself in her room to stare out the window.
No matter how cold the breeze, she cannot miss his triumphant return for the world. When he arrives riding Oguri and brings with him that person who knows her precedence. He will return smiling, with one more fable up his sleeve with which he will captivate any listener and seduce the ear that is willing to listen. Full of laughter and confidence. And if he carried a bit of bad luck maybe he'll bring one more scar.
The snow stops falling.
Ui-Ui teaches her how to properly use a bow and explains the why of each of its parts. The sky clears and the frost melts, and Kasumi finds a new callus on the finger on which she lands her arrows.
"You're mediocre at melee fighting, and you're mediocre with ranged weapons," Ui-Ui tells her with some annoyance one night of rain so heavy that the gardens are flooded.
As the sun rises and dries the rainwater, she carries with her a desire that keeps her distracted from the window. She would like to be good at something by the time he returns. But her heart shudders as she leaves the palace in the morning to find that almost all the snow inside the palace has melted.
She often goes out into the forest to test her aim on some moving target, but this time she goes out in search of winter. She looks for snow, frost and dark clouds, but there is nothing but green beginning to resurface, a clear sky and a bright sun overhead.
Perhaps the island is farther away than she imagined.
Weeks later, Kasumi discovers to her horror a small marigold blooming in the garden. The rose bushes are not yet ready, they don't even have buds. There are no bees among the flowers. There is still time.
When she finishes training, she wanders through the gardens and orchard with incipient dread growing in the pit of her stomach.
Hydrangeas bloom, orchids bloom, carnations and magnolias bloom.
Ui-Ui finds Kasumi sitting gazing intently at a marble pot. She sits cross-legged, as if she does not want to miss a moment of something he cannot see. Her face is distressed and on her right hand a bandage covers her palm as she holds her bow.
"What are you looking at?" he asks and squats down next to her.
Kasumi does not look away.
"All the plants have bloomed... except this one."
"Of course, azaleas are the last to bloom."
Kasumi's suspicions are confirmed. Her heart squeezes. How many weeks have passed?
"Then there's still some time left."
She can barely lift her arms, feels her shoulders burning. She has overdone it in her recent training, but she just can't control her own mind and this has been the only way to turn off her terrible thoughts.
Kasumi keeps training, morning, noon and night. Until her hands shake and she still intends to hit the target.
The most dreaded day arrives forty-seven days after Gojo Satoru's departure. The azaleas have bloomed.
Kasumi looks at the flowers for a long time; she sees them during the early hours of the day, as she has become accustomed to. The first bouquet is small, but it blooms continuously, day by day. She still clings desperately to an idea, perhaps he will arrive when the last flower finishes its process. That way he still has time to keep his promise.
Sitting in her room, preparing the arrows for her next training, Kausmi looks up at the window when she sees something that stops her heart. She runs down the stairs and pushes open the doors without putting on her shoes. The guards step aside, letting her out of the walls. Breathless, Kasumi sees Oguri standing in front of her; his fur dirty and foul smelling. Kasumi feels her stomach contract as she notices the horse is soaked in dried blood.
...
A slow, tired blink, his eyesight cloudy, wet. A warm sensation runs across his forehead, stains his white eyelashes and falls down his cheek to his chin, delineates a path amidst the bare, cold skin. It gushes with vigor and does not stop.
A face comes to his mind, fleeting like a flash of lightning. His empty gaze disappears into his thoughts like a ghost, so fast that he would like to reach out his hand to stop it. Elusive as a ninja, yet big as a grizzly bear. The true outcast of the Zenin clan; the man who defeated Gojo Satoru.
He is trapped. Naked. Cold.
The hint of what could be defined as laughter comes from his sore throat, tastes like iron and burns like sake. His tired arms hang over his head and as he lifts his dulled eyes he finds a myriad of talismans plastered on the ceiling and walls. He can barely read the inscriptions, but a single glance is enough for him to conclude with full determination that getting out of here will be no easy task.
And even though he tries to scratch through his memories, it all happened so fast that he didn't even realize it. He has no idea where he came from, or what his first attack was. He only remembers his dark hair and his twisted smile shining in the moonlight.
Now all the rumors about the bastard make more sense. Maki Zenin is not even a shadow of what this other one is, moving with the speed of twenty horses. A blink of an eye at the right moment was enough to capture him, to strike the right blow.
Satoru is not sure if he should thank him for not killing him. Perhaps the price for such a job involves a vastly higher sum for his head attached to his neck, and that can only mean he will face a torturous fate.
Hello dear reader! Sorry for the delay in this chapter, I had some personal problems with my feline companion's health, but thanks to the vets and lots of love she is now fully recovered. About the chapter you probably noticed that the length of this chapter is significantly shorter than the previous one, but I didn't want to keep you waiting for much longer. I don't know if I will be able to post as often as I have been doing, but maybe if I post shorter chapters you will be able to read more often. That doesn't mean that the fic will become shorter than I had originally planned, on the contrary, it will be extended in chapters but the content will always be the same. Also, I'm working on a kind of doushin that I will soon publish in some platform, a friend told me that I could use Wattpad for that, I hope you are interested in reading it, when I have it I will share the link with you!
Now, thank you very much for being such patient readers, thank you very much for your comments on all platforms and I'm sorry I can't take the time to greet you one by one, if I can I'll come by to answer the ones on ao3. Have a wonderful week!